Section NR 102.51 - Assessment types The department may conduct different types of assessments to determine the status of waterbody health and attainment of water quality standards, depending on availability of data or methods used to collect the data. The department shall, at a minimum, conduct all of the following:
(1) STATEWIDE CONDITION ASSESSMENTS. As part of the biennial assessment report required under section 305 (b) of the Clean Water Act, 33 USC 1315(b), and 40 CFR 130.8 and 130.10 (a) (1), the department shall report on water quality status and trends at the state, regional, or watershed levels. The department shall assess the extent to which surface waters of the state provide for the protection and propagation of a balanced population of shellfish, fish, and wildlife, and allow recreational activities in and on the water. Broad-scale approaches may be used to conduct these assessments, including randomized monitoring designs or other appropriate statistical methods.(2) INDIVIDUAL WATERBODY ASSESSMENTS AND SECTION 303 (D) LIST. (a) The department shall identify and report on waters not meeting any applicable water quality standard prescribed under statute or a promulgated rule, pursuant to section 303 (d) of the Clean Water Act, 33 USC 1313(d), and 40 CFR 130.7 (b) and 130.10 (b) (2). The department shall assess individual waterbodies that have sufficient and readily available datasets, as specified in the department's water quality standards and assessment protocols, to determine whether a waterbody is attaining water quality standards. The department determines whether a waterbody's designated uses are supported by evaluating attainment of its water quality criteria and biological assessment thresholds. The department shall assess data collected from a waterbody against each applicable water quality standard or assessment threshold independently, unless a combined assessment procedure is specified in rule. The department shall report any waters not attaining applicable water quality standards to the U.S. EPA. Only water quality standards that have been promulgated via statute or rule may be considered for the purposes of listing a waterbody on the section 303 (d) list.(b) When the department submits the section 305 (b) biennial assessment report and section 303 (d) list, it shall provide all of the following information if an assessment indicates that one or more of a waterbody's water quality standards are not attained: 1. A waterbody is listed on the section 303 (d) list for a pollutant if a pollutant's water quality criterion is not attained and it may require a total maximum daily load analysis.2. A waterbody is reported as having an observed effect of degradation if the waterbody does not attain one or more biological assessment thresholds or water quality criteria for parameters that are not pollutants, such as dissolved oxygen. In listing observed effects, the department may not formally attribute these effects to a specific pollutant until the department conducts an evaluation of potential causes, including nonchemical stressors such as habitat degradation or hydrological modification, and identifies one or more specific pollutants as causing or contributing to biological degradation. Listing of observed effects would not require development of a total daily maximum load for a waterbody unless a specific pollutant exceeding its promulgated water quality standard is identified by the department as a cause of the observed effect.Wis. Admin. Code Department of Natural Resources § NR 102.51
Adopted by, CR 19-094: cr. Register September 2022 No. 801, eff. 10/1/2022 If a waterbody is not attaining water quality criteria for a pollutant, it will be listed on the section 303 (d) list regardless of attainment of biological assessment thresholds unless otherwise specified in the pollutant's criteria or procedures specified in those chapters (for instance, the combined assessment approach for phosphorus under s. NR 102.60), or if site-specific criteria are developed and attained.
Note: This subsection does not preclude other types of assessments that may be needed or required for other purposes. The department has authority to research and assess the quality and condition of the state's waters under s. 281.13, Stats.
Note: As required under 40 CFR 130.7(b) (4), waters on the section 303 (d) list may require a total maximum daily load analysis. The department prioritizes and develops total maximum daily load analyses as discussed in subch. III of ch. NR 212. In addition, if a specific pollutant is identified as contributing to biological degradation, a site-specific criterion for the pollutant may be developed through rulemaking if appropriate.